


Jane Austen Never Met A Robot

by ineffablesheep



Series: This Is Not Jane Austen [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Atypical Daemons, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Daemons, Developing Friendships, Fluff, Gen, Meet the Family, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Science Nerd Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers is not a good bro, Swearing, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 13:03:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19870111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineffablesheep/pseuds/ineffablesheep
Summary: “Jarvis, hold the lifts.” Why? Did Stark want him to take the stairs? He let his confusion paint his face as he looked to the other man for an explanation.“You can go to the garden, I’m not going to stop you. However, if you want,” Stark took a pause to gather his breath and reached a hand for Alex, “come join me in my workshop?”





	Jane Austen Never Met A Robot

**Author's Note:**

> Hey lovelies!
> 
> As requested and promised, here is part three. It's pretty fluffy and sweet - just James and Tony spending time together. My brain is pretty fried right now so if there's any glaring typos or I've missed a tag or something, sing out yeah? Otherwise, I hope you enjoy! :)
> 
> EDIT 20-06-2019: Added missing tags and the summary (Yeah I'm pretty stupidly tired rn). And as always, this is unbeta'd

_“You’re the only one who wants to watch this Bucky. Doesn’t matter if you never get a chance to watch anything you want on movie nights Bucky, you’re still not allowed to watch it in your own time when no one else is using the television Bucky. Give Sam the remote Bucky.”_ James grumbled under his breath, stalking down the hallway with Anastasia beside him. He should probably stop mocking Steve like this before it became habit but why the fuck not? Every little thing he did pissed Steve off already, or one of his precious teammates. _“It’s my new healthy best friend’s turn because I say so Bucky. You gotta give it to him because I say so, Bucky.”_

“Woah, hold your horses Snowflake, what’s got your tail fluffed up? What’ve you got to give to who?”

James pulled his focus back to the hall in front of him to find he’d reached the lifts. Stark, because who else called him ‘Snowflake’, was poking his head out the doors. He had a suit jacket over one arm and his tie hanging loose, which meant this was a workshop visit rather than an Avengers one. Alexandra was relaxed at his side, only her ears giving away how on edge she was to be in the compound. He didn’t realise Ana had been growling until she quieted, huffing a quick greeting to the other daemon.

“Fucking Wilson. Just wanted to watch my documentary but oh no, I can’t do that can I because _fucking Steve,_ ” the bitterness that spilled with his words shouldn’t have landed on Stark, but the man patiently took it, “wouldn’t stop harassing me. So I’m going to the garden. You can join me if you want.”

He pressed the up button to call the lift next to Stark’s. He could have just asked Jarvis or Friday, but that meant opening his mouth and inflicting his mood on another undeserving person. His insides felt tangled and jittery. Was he going to cry? Fuck, maybe. All he wanted was the cool night air in his lungs and a cuddle with Anastasia. As he waited, Stark stood silently next to him, half in and out of the downward-headed lift. The engineer’s face was blank, as was Alexandra’s and he wanted to ask but he wasn’t sure if he was allowed, if he should.

Before he could make up his mind whether or not to ask, the lift arrived and Stark broke his silence.

“Jarvis, hold the lifts.” Why? Did Stark want him to take the stairs? He let his confusion paint his face as he looked to the other man for an explanation.

“You can go to the garden, I’m not going to stop you. However, if you want,” Stark took a pause to gather his breath and reached a hand for Alex, “come join me in my workshop?”

“What?”

“You heard me.” Stark and his lioness stared at him and Anastasia as James tried to process the invitation. The snow leopard was the first to react and nudged him until he was in Stark’s lift before they missed their chance.

“Are you serious? You don’t let anyone into your lab.” As the lift continued its interrupted descent, James felt like something in his chest was trying to float up through the roof. Stark just grinned wryly.

“No, I just don’t let _everyone_ in.”

\---------

Stark’s lab was something out of the Sci-Fi novels he’d read as a kid. He’d seen the sturdy glass exterior during the orientation tour, the glass doors and entranceway blacked out so only the first few feet beyond were visible. Now the glass was colourless, the doors opened as the four approached and James got his first proper look at the future.

Workbenches covered in half-finished projects and holograms floated in the air; it was chaos to him but he had no doubt it made complete sense to the genius. There was a disassembled engine sitting pride of place on a bench and a couple of unfamiliar Iron Man suits standing sentry in their glass display. The entire room was well lit and spacious. James couldn’t help but stare as Stark led him through the chaos towards a lightly charred sofa tucked in a far corner.

“Do you want me to stay somewhere in particular? Is there anything I shouldn’t go near or see?” James really, _really_ tried to keep his focus on Stark but there was a complicated machine going _ping!_ and spitting out odd geometric shapes _right behind them_ and he just wanted to know if Stark would explain the padlock on the blender and why he had designs for a tennis ball above one of the desks and was that an Iron Man gauntlet lying on that desk back there and-

“Jarvis tidied up before we got here, anything left out is fine. Just be careful, I spilt elements on that desk and now it’s periodic – I’m kidding Barnes. It was a joke, you’re allowed to laugh.” Stark grinned as he gestured to a bare desk. Jarvis, the gentleman he was, spoke up.

“Perhaps sir, you should refrain from making jokes that suggest inadequate lab safety around Mr Barnes seeing as he is still not accustomed to your sense of humour?" Stark opened his mouth to respond, an indignant yet fond look upon his face. His snarky comment was interrupted however, by a loud squeak from the desk nearest the sofa.

It wasn’t a threat, it was utterly _adorable_. James and Anastasia relaxed again and James couldn’t help his dumb grin at the sight. Piled together underneath in a big fluffy dog bed were Stark’s cubs. Their talk must have disturbed them, the pile blinking lazily at him before snuggling back into one another. One of the bigger ones – Epsilon maybe? – looked particularly unimpressed as he settled back into his siblings. Stark noticed his distraction and waved a hand at the puddle of fur.

“Leave them be, these disasters will be cranky as anything if you wake them up. There should be another bed somewhere if Anastasia wants to have a snooze too. I don’t know, I’ve never had to raise a snow leopard."

James looked to Anastasia and she stared straight back. She rubbed a cheek against his leg and jumped up onto the desk with ease. Alex quickly joined her, once she’d nudged Dihaoine back into the bed from where she’d fallen out, and the two daemons settled up there. Anastasia blinked slowly at him once before laying her head on her paws. She wouldn’t miss out. His ball of fur had a knack for picking good vantage points.

“Right, what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. I figured I’d just hang out here for a bit and stay out of your way. Do you want me to do something?” His maths and physics were good but not genius-level good. Unless Stark needed something heavy lifted he was pretty much useless.

“You can if you want, there’s coffee and blankets in a cupboard somewhere round here I think. What I was going to ask though,” Stark clapped his hands together and grinned at James; “was if you wanted to meet my kids?”

That same feeling of something in his chest trying to burst free blindsided him with a mix of confusion. Hearing about them and getting to meet their daemons was one thing. This, this was something else. Friday and Jarvis were amazing, keeping him company on bad nights and helping him keep up with the future. They were wired through the compound however, the physical components of themselves hidden carefully away out of harm’s reach. The bots weren’t though. And Stark was offering for him to meet his AI children-

“ _Yes._ ” He blurted out. “Yes, please, I’d love to meet them. Are they here in the lab? Wouldn’t you keep them at the tower or something? Are you serious?” The words spilt uncontrollably, the jittery feeling threatening to have him levitating off the ground he was going to meet actual robots!

“Calm down Frostbite,” Stark laughed. “I wouldn’t have brought you here if I didn’t want you around them. They live here at the moment because I’m doing most of my work here. Although,” he surveyed the expanse of the room, “they seem to be playing hide and seek. Jarvis?”

“They are indeed, Sir. Butterfingers suggested they try and surprise you. I’m pretty sure that it was a plot to get our brothers to hide and be quiet while she had a nap at her charging station.”

James watched as Stark wandered over to a metal frame covered in a blanket.

“Hm, I wonder where they all are.” Something twitched in the back of his mind, a little girl behind a curtain as another snuck up on her, both giggling uncontrollably. “Found you Butterfingers. You can come out now, hurry up.” Stark yanked the blanket off the metal frame and it _moved_. He held his breath and watched as Butterfingers twisted around and looked at Stark, nudging him with what must be her head. The engineer gave her a pat, looking around the lab for the missing bots.

“Butterfingers lost the game, if you don’t come out now you won’t get to meet James and Anastasia.”

James didn’t have a chance to let go of the breath he had been holding before a bot zipped past him out of nowhere, beeping excitedly. It circled back and rushed up to him, poked his metal arm once, twice, before spinning on a dime and zooming in circles around him. A laugh rushed out of him and he carefully reached out a hand for the circling bot. Stark barely had a chance to shout ‘ _gentle!’_ before the bot had grabbed his metal fingers and began shaking them and the rest of James along with it. It was a handshake. He was shaking hands with a robot and Bucky Barnes would be seething in jealousy if he could see James now.

“Hi there,” James kept his eyes locked on the bot’s claw. “I’m James. It’s nice to meet you.” There was a _beep_ right in his ear and he flinched, trying to step away and nearly tripping on Butterfingers’ chassis. She beeped and helped right him, before beeping again and rolling back to give a third bot room to approach. This one whistled and ignored his outstretched hand in favour of poking him more. This close, James could see _U_ engraved in neat printing on his arm. Butterfingers was still nearby and chirping at him, which meant the one who’d shook his hand and was returning with a tennis ball in his claw must be Dum-E.

“You’re amazing, all of you.”

“You’re not so bad yourself, Snowflake.” James had somehow managed to forget that Stark was in the lab with them. He was standing off to one side, arms across his chest with an odd look in his eyes. Nothing threatening, or aggressive. A kind of happy, or even pleased. James tried to keep his eyes on Stark, but the bots’ antics kept drawing him back to them. Butterfingers wanted to be petted, picking at strands of his hair and laying them across his head like a mock comb-over when he didn’t. U seemed quite content to quietly poke and prod him while Dum-E wanted to shake hands again and couldn’t figure out how without dropping the tennis ball he clutched tight.

He caught Stark’s eye again and tried to find his breath. He had so many questions, bouncing around his mind and no words to voice them. It didn’t seem to matter because Stark just laughed at him and made his way over.

"Barnes, meet Dum-E, U and Butterfingers," he ran a hand over Dum-E’s arm. “My disaster AI children. They’re all pretty wonky and glitch but they’re alright I guess.”

“They’re amazing.” Words finally came back to him and. “All of them. I can’t believe they’re real, and I get to meet them. Thank you, thank you so dam much Stark.” The other man shrugged and gave Dum-E one last pat. He grabbed a rolling stool that had gotten caught in the excited bots’ crossfire and shoved it over to a desk. Stark had barely sat down before Jarvis pulled a project up on the holograms before him. He didn’t turn his focus to it though. He remained staring at James in the middle of the bots, at James trying to hold a conversation with their beeping. Up on the spare desk, Anastasia’s tail was twitching like she was on a hunt, ears forward and head cocked to the side. Next to her, Alex was slothed out and nearly asleep.

“There’s no need to thank me. They’ve been a bit lonely lately, thought all of you might appreciate this.”

“What?” James managed to extract himself from the bots to sit on the table next to Ana. Stark shrugged, spinning slightly on the stool.

“I wasn’t kidding about not letting just anyone in here. The old team thought they were no better than Siri, and I wouldn’t give the new ones this chance even if they stopped putting coffee grinds in the disposal. Or gave you the remote.” He couldn’t help but laugh at the blatant dig. James wouldn’t give Wilson a steering wheel, let alone the television remote or access to Stark’s AI children.

He ran his fingers through Anastasia’s fur and gently tugged her so her head was in his lap. The bots had scattered to do who-knew-what, leaving James to observe Stark as he worked. He had no idea what was going on; Stark’s fingers moving through the holograms with easy and keeping up a steady stream of chatter with Jarvis. At some point, Dum-E returned with his tennis ball and James took it, happily joining in the bot’s game of fetch. He didn’t know how long he sat there with his mind wandering before Stark paused in his work. James blinked, gave Dum-E a pat and lobbed the ball over to the other bots. The television remote’s blueprints were suspended in the hologram in front of the engineer.

“You know,” Stark mused, “they don’t actually need the remote to change channels. J and Fri-girl have always had access to it. I only got a remote cause I heard you weren’t really talking and thought it might be easier if you could just push a button. Maybe I’ll wire Friday and Jarvis into the remote so the batteries can ‘die’ conveniently. Maybe a static shock? Or should I keep that on the back burner?”

“You don’t have to do this. I can handle it myself.” Up until Steve or the witch got involved at least. “They’ll figure out you did it and I don’t want them to have more ammunition against you.”

“You’re cute, Snowflake, but like you I can handle it myself. Besides, they hate me already and you deserve a fighting chance. Besides,” Stark turned back to his work, poking at the hologram. “It can be a little difficult to watch tv in here without the bots getting in the way and blocking your view.”

He’d fallen off a building once, landed on his back and had the wind knocked out of him so badly he’d nearly been caught as he lay stunned on the ground. This, this feeling was familiar even if it was words rather than concrete. Ana had gone stock-still as to not accidentally nudge Alex. The lioness was faking sleep, ears alert and as tense as Stark was. He couldn’t fuck this up, they’d come so far and James would never forgive himself if he ruined it. He pulled in a breath, held it, and let it go.

“Maybe,” he picked his words carefully, “maybe they’d get in the way and annoy me. But I like the company here a lot better. I’d even share the remote.”

Stark didn’t turn around, but the tension ran from his shoulders and when he spoke there was a laugh woven through.

“I might just hold off on that static shock feature then.”

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, okay, two papers is a lot more to handle than one paper. This was written nearly immediately after Sense and Sensibility but I decided to wait to post it because of uni and wow I'm glad I had this tucked away finished. There will be a part four to this series - it may take a little longer because course comes first and there is a lot of work. It will be done though! There's gonna be more of the team and some tears, I can tell you that much...
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are treasured,
> 
> Love,  
> Sheep x


End file.
